For cold water lobsters, I prefer butter poaching. I think spiny lobster tastes best grilled. Just remember that cooking in a liquid (boiling, poaching) will be quicker than an 'air' cooking method, because air conducts heat energy with less efficiency. Poaching in butter at 150°F will literally take no more than 2 minutes, tops.

I bought some big red shrimp (I think from Venezuela) during a big seafood sale at Giant Eagle recently (raw and only headless). Made them once and they have a decidedly lobsterish taste. They are rather sweet. I remember reading when I was researching to decide whether to buy them that they cook very quickly (and they did the first time I made them). Any cooking suggestions for them with the lobster-like flavor and quick cook time?

Really? I only recently started cooking with raw shrimp, and I have to tell you that it saved shrimp for me. I can't imagine every cooking with already cooked shrimp again. I've never really had a hard time with it. Raw shrimp in jambalaya or raw shrimp with some oil and garlic in the wok are the two I do most.

mac5155 wrote:Volumetric. I think it was 1 cup of water to 3 cups of flour. I'm going to try a different recipe. This dough didn't stretch very well. I think I may have done something wrong.

That does seem like a little too much flour to water. Also, how long did you mix it? Using the dough hook on my Kitchenaid mixer, I usually mix for about two minutes on the lowest setting and then another four to five minutes on the next-highest setting (6-7 minutes total). You don't need much more than that. Pizza dough needs enough gluten development to be able to stretch, but too much gluten and the dough will want to spring back and won't stay stretched.

Mac, the way I read your post about the kitchenaid issue, it sounded like you were on the very first speed setting which is actually a stir setting. Not only will that improperly knead your dough but it will also damage your mixer. The dough hook is designed to knead on levels 2 and 3. I also agree that your recipe sounded like it was a little heavy on the flour.

BadHands71 wrote:Mac, the way I read your post about the kitchenaid issue, it sounded like you were on the very first speed setting which is actually a stir setting. Not only will that improperly knead your dough but it will also damage your mixer. The dough hook is designed to knead on levels 2 and 3. I also agree that your recipe sounded like it was a little heavy on the flour.

It might depend on the model of mixer. I have a KSM150 "Artisan" model, and the instructions for my mixer say that one should never go over 2 when using the dough hook.

BadHands71 wrote:Mac, the way I read your post about the kitchenaid issue, it sounded like you were on the very first speed setting which is actually a stir setting. Not only will that improperly knead your dough but it will also damage your mixer. The dough hook is designed to knead on levels 2 and 3. I also agree that your recipe sounded like it was a little heavy on the flour.

It might depend on the model of mixer. I have a KSM150 "Artisan" model, and the instructions for my mixer say that one should never go over 2 when using the dough hook.

Very true Shyster. My particular model's handbook says that the first level or "click" is stir and should never be used with the dough hook. Second click is recommended for dough hook but it can also be used on 3 for a short period early in the mixing process. I don't have the Artisan one though, so I can't speak to that, I do know that the motor in the Artisan is smaller and less powerful so I'm not sure what the differences is. Regardless, I don't think that the first click/"stir" setting should never be used for kneading, regardless of the model.

BadHands71 wrote:Very true Shyster. My particular model's handbook says that the first level or "click" is stir and should never be used with the dough hook. Second click is recommended for dough hook but it can also be used on 3 for a short period early in the mixing process. I don't have the Artisan one though, so I can't speak to that, I do know that the motor in the Artisan is smaller and less powerful so I'm not sure what the differences is. Regardless, I don't think that the first click/"stir" setting should never be used for kneading, regardless of the model.

I agree the first speed is too slow for effective kneading, but I use it (and IIRC the Kitchenaid manual said to do this) for approximately two minutes in order to bring the ingredients together. King Arthur Flour also recommends starting on the slowest speed and then increasing once everything is together. If I go right to the second speed it will fling flour all over the counter. I've had my Artisan for about five years or so and use it to bake bread every single week. It's plenty powerful so long as you don't overload the bowl. Based on my experience it's ability to effectively knead a batch runs out at about 28 ounces of flour or so. My standard weekly bake is a two-loaf batch using 22 ounces of flour. I've used this mixer to make literally hundreds of loaves of bread.